Louisville resident and part-time bitcoin trader Mike Miescke believes the virtual currency will be commonplace in Louisville and the world within five years.

Written by

Mark Boxley
| The Courier-Journal

Give it a year and you might be using bitcoins to buy pizza, bourbon, concert tickets or pretty much anything else - even in Louisville.

Despite recent setbacks - including a major theft and then a bankruptcy declaration by Mt.Gox, the largest bitcoin trader in the world - experts like Jerry Brito, a senior research fellow with the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, say the crypto-currency is "going to change the world."

A bitcoin is a highly-encrypted form of online currency, like virtual cash that can be transferred instantly from person to person without any fees. Bitcoins have no ...